Another "conservative" hypocrite
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich Acknowledges Having Affair During Clinton Impeachment
WASHINGTON -
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.
"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."
Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.
"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."
Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, Gingrich remains wildly popular among many conservatives. He has repeatedly placed near the top of Republican presidential polls recently, even though he has not formed a campaign.
Gingrich has said he is waiting to see how the Republican field shapes up before deciding in the fall whether to run.
Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce.
"There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them," he said in the interview. "I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I'm ... not proud of."
Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1998 when he abruptly resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in elections and after being reprimanded by the House ethics panel over charges that he used tax-exempt funding to advance his political goals.
WASHINGTON -
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.
"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."
Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.
"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."
Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, Gingrich remains wildly popular among many conservatives. He has repeatedly placed near the top of Republican presidential polls recently, even though he has not formed a campaign.
Gingrich has said he is waiting to see how the Republican field shapes up before deciding in the fall whether to run.
Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce.
"There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them," he said in the interview. "I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I'm ... not proud of."
Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1998 when he abruptly resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in elections and after being reprimanded by the House ethics panel over charges that he used tax-exempt funding to advance his political goals.
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Just what makes him a hypocrite? Did he lie under oath? Did he commit perjury? Was he obstructing justice? 0 -
Getting caught is not the measure of hypocrisy. Or, in DC, maybe it is. 0 -
I thought all liberals believed personal matters were private. They thought that from 1992 to 2000 at least. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by ripley16
I thought all liberals believed personal matters were private. They thought that from 1992 to 2000 at least.
That's because they still don't understand what Clinton's impeachment was about. They still think it was about sex.
They gleefully point to Libby now. I thought perhaps they'd understand the two were guilty of the same thing, but alas, I apparently jumped the gun.0 -
"There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."
A man of this kind has no business being a leader in this country imho...but i am very sure that this quote of gingrich's fits most in DC.0 -
quote:Originally posted by cowdoc
"There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."
A man of this kind has no business being a leader in this country imho...
I don't know that I can agree with you. While infidelity disgusts me, we're all sinners. Whether or not you want to accept that is between you and God (and whether or not you want to believe in Him is between you and God as well).
There are times when I fall short of my own standards, and there are lots of times where I fall short of God's standards. No, I've never cheated on my wife (or a girlfriend before I married my wife). I falter in other ways. I'm betting that there's not many people on this planet who can say with a straight face that they don't falter and they don't disappoint themselves.
If someone who can admit that they're not perfect is not the right type of person you'd want to see in a leader, just who would you consider to be an appropriate leader?0 -
Spaniel, Libby and Clinton are guilty of the same thing the way that too much salt and too much cyanide will both kill you.
Clinton lied under oath about getting a BJ. Libby, apparantly on orders from on high, lied about NATIONAL SECURITY.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Jgreen
Spaniel, Libby and Clinton are guilty of the same thing the way that too much salt and too much cyanide will both kill you.
Clinton lied under oath about getting a BJ. Libby, apparantly on orders from on high, lied about NATIONAL SECURITY.
You can't see the forest for the trees.
They both committed perjury. They both obstructed justice.
It doesn't matter what the underlying action was.0 -
SPANIEL, THAT'S NOT TRUE. The record (from CNN) shows that Clinton faced two articles of impeachment-and was acquitted on both. He was charged with (1) obstructing justice in the Paula Jones case, and (2) providing "perjurious, false and misleading testimony" before Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury. The Senate acquitted Clinton on the perjury charge by a vote of 55 (not guilty) to 45 (guilty). Sixty-seven votes are needed to convict.
The same CNN source notes that the Republican-controlled House itself rejected two other perjury charges. One alleged that Clinton: .provided "perjurious, false and misleading testimony" in the Paula Jones civil case (rejected by the House, 229-205). Another rejected charge alleged Clinton: .misused and abused "his high office" by making perjurious statements to Congress in his answers to the 81 questions posed by the Judiciary Committee (rejected by the House, 285-148). http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/resources/1998/lewinsky/articles.of.impeachment/
Clinton was not convicted of perjury. To the contrary, two perjury allegations never even made it to the impeachment stage, and on the one perjury charge he actually faced, Clinton was acquitted-by a twenty-two vote margin (only 45 of 67 guilty votes needed).0 -
Who thinks that Gingrich, or any other "sinner", freely confesses on his or her own? People are hypocrites for trying to push an agenda on others while violating the standards that they are advocating. 0 -
The problem is we need a strong "ethics" requirement for congress. That is not going to happen while they are in charge of making and enforcing the rules. I personally think salaries and ehtics issues should come from the state level or an outside committee (watchdog agency)that has nothing to gain politically. Right now the fox is guarding the henhouse. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Jgreen
SPANIEL, THAT'S NOT TRUE. The record (from CNN) shows that Clinton faced two articles of impeachment-and was acquitted on both. He was charged with (1) obstructing justice in the Paula Jones case, and (2) providing "perjurious, false and misleading testimony" before Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury. The Senate acquitted Clinton on the perjury charge by a vote of 55 (not guilty) to 45 (guilty). Sixty-seven votes are needed to convict.Sigh. IT IS TRUE.
Clinton's "trial" was political. It was not criminal and it was not civil. Impeachment and Removal was set up as a political process by our Founding Fathers. If you need further information and proof of this, you might want to look into Andrew Johnson's response to being impeached. It provides quite a bit of insight. Moreover, if you need even more proof, consider the ramnifications of being removed -- no jail, no fines, you simply lose your job. The only thing that the Removal process showed under Clinton was that Congress didn't have the balls to do what should have been done, because Democrats were stonewalling the issue and you had too many wimpy Republicans unwilling to do the right thing.
Clinton lost his license to practice law because of his perjury -- not that he would ever need it, but someone with some balls saw that what Clinton did was over the top and yanked his law license for it.0 -
You should have listened to his interveiw with James Dobson this morning. Old Newt publicly confessed to alot more than Bill Clinton ever did. Furthermore, Ginrich "judged" Clinton based on the felony of purgery that he commited not his adultry. 0 -
The impeachment proceedings certainly were politically motivated.
Gingrich certainly is a slimeball, as is Clinton, but Clinton was a capable administrator, and Gingrich is just a slimeball.
Libby fell on his sword to protect Chaney.0 -
I do not think being a hypocrite is tied to one side of the political isle. Most of them are from time to time if it lines up with their personal or political agenda. Which is kinda sad when you get right down to it...[:(][}:)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by spanielsells
Just what makes him a hypocrite? Did he lie under oath? Did he commit perjury? Was he obstructing justice?
Um... how's about damning Clinton for the exact same BS he was doing? That hypocritical enough, for you?
"Oh, I was merely judging him on his perjury!"
Yeah, and I'm the King of Scotland.
If he were so forthright in his admission, why in the hell didn't he admit it while he was crusading for morality and openess in our elected officials?
"He admitted a lot more!"
Yeah - almost a f*#@n' decade later. Brave man! Good man! Non-hypocritical man!
Come on folks - let's hear more excuses! I demand them! Let's hear how all great conservatives are allowed to say one thing and do another! Let's hear the apologists play semantics with this! Let's see how little all the cheerleaders truly expect out of their heroes while expecting the rest of us to follow them lock-step and on-time.
I'm not sure what sickens me more - the hypocrisy of the "conservative" leaders or the shallow ideological cowardice of their cheerleader followers.[xx(]0 -
quote:Yeah, and I'm the King of Scotland.
King Monkey? OK works for me, but you are gonna look like that twit Charles...0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
The impeachment proceedings certainly were politically motivated.
Gingrich certainly is a slimeball, as is Clinton, but Clinton was a capable administrator, and Gingrich is just a slimeball.
Libby fell on his sword to protect Chaney.
I think we are in 40% agreement here.
"Gingrich certainly is a slimeball". Check.
"as is Clinton". Check
"Bub Clinton was a capable administrator". You have to be joking.
"and Gingrich is just a slimeball". I think he has demonstrated some leadership skills.
"Libby fell on his sword to protect Chaney". There was no underlying crime.0 -
Hypocrisy & politicians --- synonyms???????
The part that I liked --- "Did not have sex with her" "Define sex!"0 -
Spaniel, how can you say that clinton and libby were convicted of the same thing, and then in the same breath say that (and thereby acknowledge) my post? Sounds like "truthiness" to me.... 0 -
spanielsells
I got no use for anybody who "do as i say...but dont do as i do" Rep , Dem or any other person for that matter, esp in leadership positions!0 -
quote:Originally posted by Jgreen
Spaniel, Libby and Clinton are guilty of the same thing the way that too much salt and too much cyanide will both kill you.
Clinton lied under oath about getting a BJ. Libby, apparantly on orders from on high, lied about NATIONAL SECURITY.
libby never lied about national security. he lied about which reporter told him what. sandy berger on the other hand......0 -
Come on, newt, you know better than that. The Plame investigation wasn't about "gee, which reporter knew it first". Why is it that when you call out W and his ilk on their pet issue (national security), they can't acknowledge when they've been taken? 0 -
...geez, if lieing and infidelity was a reason fo anyone not being able to hold Federal office, DC would be a ghost town...[;)]NOT defending his actions.
Look at that lieing POS Joe Wilson and his ditzy blonde wife...LIED about the yellow cake thingy, (intelligence committe did find FACTUAL evidence Sa-Damn WAS trying to acquire it...though he [Wilson]lied and said "no he wasnt". They were lieing, doing all they could to push their anti-Bush agenda, scum bags.
Libby, if you read the trial material, was big time rail roaded. Some of the jury were friends of Wilson/Tim Russert, all were partisan...to the lefty side. Evidence to reputiate much of the testimony was not allowed into the trial, BS.
How many of us can remember words we spoke 2-3 yeras ago when it wasnt an important conversation, an off the record idle conversation?
Then considering Russert and other reporters who testified are protected by law not to divulge their sources to begin with! Didn't bother that big headed fool Russert though.
Hell, the prosecuter had to drag him in front of what, 3 grand juries to trip him up??
The prosecuter knew Armatadge was the source of the so called "leak" BEFORE the hearing began!! Witch hunt!
Ditzy Plame did not even meet the requirement as a covert agent, so there was no crime, all a freakin joke, pathetic. NOTE HERE: Libby was not convicted of outing the bleached headed biatch BECAUSE she did not meet the "covert agent" criteria...which is why this kangaroo court was begin over!!
His appeals should keep him out of prison until Bush is about to leave office and is able to pardon him.
The left is proud they helped to ruin a good mans life, sad they did not get who they wanted...Rove...The far left DOES hate America, and the military, and could give hoot about America's future.
They claim all their cut and run, leave Iraq now, our soldiers are terrorists blah blah is just disscourse, no it's not when people like them have a worldwide podeium the enemy LISTENS to! They are entitled to say waht they want, but they fail to realize what they say has DIRE COSEQUENCES! IDIOTS!!...[xx(]
THE LEFTIES THAT DIDN'T GET WHAT THEY WANTED, ROVE [:D]
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It would be interesting to see how many of our politicians would qualify for a CCW Permit.
Yet they are allowed to run for public office where they are in position to vote on sending the whole country to war. Or in the case of the president he has his finger on the red button but in many cases probably wouldn't qualify to carry a gun in this country if he had to pass the background check.
At the very least our politicians should have to qualify to run for office with a NIC's background check.
Smitty0
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